Let It All Out
by madHATTERo0
Summary: [au&oc] Naruto's life is heading in a completely different direction after the old man Hokage assigns on odd ANBU to watch over the young boy.
1. Get it all out

**A/N: Alright, so I'm taking a stab at Naruto fanfiction - an epic at that. Well, I plan for it to be; who knows how it will actually turn out? I'm not a big fan of AUs usually, but I just couldn't resist giving this a shot because it bugs me to no end how there's never anything really in depth about Naruto's childhood. Yeah, there's flashbacks of him standing there all alone and watching the other kids with families, but what about all the other stuff? Like who raised him? He wasn't living in that same apartment all his life, was he? Someone had to be taking care of him, at least until he was like five or something. And what about the seriously bad treatment of the villagers? Like, I know how there was a law and all saying that they weren't supposed to harm him, but some of those villagers would have tried to kill him, law or not. So this is my take on Naruto, how I think it should've happened. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer:** Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto-sama. While I like to fantasize that one day I will be a great manga-ka, I am not Kishimoto-sama. Life is so unfair sometimes, isn't it?

**Untitled**

**Prologue**

Small wisps of smoke curled up toward the ceiling as Sarutobi sighed deeply through his pipe. He stood just inside of a cramped hospital room, looking upon its sole occupant worriedly. Half-healed scars and bruises littered the little boy's body, but Sarutobi was far more worried about the too-thin limbs and stunted build that was unusual even for a five-year-old - egregious signs of malnutrition. The various scars and bruises he knew would be gone by morning. They'd only been inflicted a couple of hours before, but already they were fading thanks to the demonic resident in the young boy's belly.

He'd barely been able to secure the boy a room in the hospital, and he'd had to make it a direct order to get the hospital staff to allow it. He hadn't bothered to demand that a medic attend to the boy. There was only one medic-nin he trusted enough to let near the boy, and she had disappeared a few years back. He idly noted that he couldn't even trust the various ninja he'd assigned to look after the boy in secret. They may have pervented any direct threats to his life, but they certainly had no qualms about letting the boy fend for himself if it was just a group of drunkeen civilians.

Stepping out of the room and withdrawing his pipe, he addressed the two jounin escorts stationed outside the door. "I need you," he began, indicating the one to his left, "To guard this door and make sure _no one_ enters that room. Should anything happen, the fault will fall quite heavily on your shoulders, I assure you." The jounin nodded curtly, but Sarutobi didn't miss his fearful gulp. Turning to the other jounin, he stated, "I need you to find Anshi Hotaru and have her report to my office immediately."

"Right away, Hokage-sama," the jounin nodded before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Sarutobi replaced his pipe in his mouth and took a long drag from it before making his way back to his office at a leisure pace, going through all the possible scenarios of what he was about to set into motion.

**A/N: Yeah, not much is happening yet. But that'll soon change. I hope. Anyway, review! And if you have any ideas for a title, they would be greatly appreciated.**

**Next chapter: **-gasp- It's an OC! And character interaction between: Old man Hokage and OC, Naruto and OC, Naruto and himself! Okay, so that's more inner angsty monologue, but cares about technicalities anyway? And who could this mysterious OC be? Why, it's Sailor Saturn! Wait, no! She just has the same name. Sadly, madHATTER is terribly horrible at coming up with names. At least she managed to find a suitable last name that wasn't ripped from another anime.

**-mH**


	2. Rip it out remove it

**A/N: I should so be working on my crapload of homework right now, but I'm not! Bwahahaha!**

**Disclaimer:** Once again, I do not own _Naruto_ or any of the characters associated with the anime/manga. Hotaru-chan is so my own creation though! And so is the plot. Sort of.

**Untitled**

**Chapter One**

**Meeting Naruto**

Naruto absently kicked a small pebble, following it slowly down the street with his head downcast and his eyes distant. The memories of what had happened yesterday kept flashing before his eyes, causing him to grit his teeth and clench his fists in his pockets. What had he ever done to them? He hadn't even recognized any of the drunks' faces; as far as he could tell, they were just some random villagers who seemed to have had a problem with him sitting on a rickety swing at the park.

He drew his foot back and kicked at the pebble furiously, accidentally hitting the back of on old woman's leg who was sweeping outside her storefront. He quickly opened his mouth, but was barely able to squeak out an apology before the woman had whacked him with her broom. "Damned boy, kicking stones at people! How dare you!" she hollered.

"I-I didn't --" he began to stutter out, but she had lifted her broom again and made to hit him with the wooden end this time. Bringing up his arms reflexively, he cringed as he waited for the blow to fall.

"Oy! You old hag! What the hell do you think you're doing!" an angry voice cut in. Naruto cracked open an eye to reveal what looked to be a _kunoichi_ with long black hair standing between him and the old woman, holding onto the broom handle so tightly that it began to splinter around her fist.

Despite the fearful look in the woman's eyes, her voice was low and cold as she replied, "Nothing that _bakemono_ doesn't deserve."

"Would you care to repeat that?" the _kunoichi_ hissed back. Her back was to Naruto, so he was unable to see her face, but the look of ill-hidden terror on the old woman's face gave him enough of a hint as to her expression. Her hands trembling, the old woman dropped her broom and quickly fled into her shop, slamming the door behind her and flipping the sign on it to 'Sorry, we're closed.'

"_Bakemono_..." Naruto said under his breath, hating the way the syllables rolled off his tongue so easily and the familiarity of the word.

"Senile old bat," the _kunoichi_ huffed, hands on her hips as she spun on her heel to face him. Her eyes quickly raked his small form, a small frown curling on her lips. "You don't look anything like a _bakemono_."

Naruto stared up at the _kunoichi_ incredulously. This was the first time he'd ever seen someone angry and it not be directed toward him; she had even defended him. The Hokage was the only one who had ever done that before.

"_Ne_, _ne_, have you ever seen a _bakemono_?" she asked eagerly, her dark eyes sparkling, "I've run into plenty, so I'm quite familiar with the various kinds. They've got sharp claws that like to pinch your cheeks like this." Here she pinched her cheeks and pulled back the skin. "Or are those just _onibaba_? I don't know, I'm always getting the two confused..." she trailed off, a finger to her chin.

Naruto couldn't help but wonder if this kunoichi was right in the head. How could she confuse _bakemono_ with _onibaba_, after all? Maybe she'd been hit a few too many times with the blunt side of a kunai...

"_Mou_! No laugh? Not even a smile? A quirk of the lips?" she wailed suddenly with a pout. Naruto took a few steps back; it was always best to give crazy women their space.

Her head drooped as she sighed, catching sight of her watch at the same time. "Ah! _Gomen, gomen_! I have a meeting with Hokage-sama! Bye-bye!" she waved cheerfully before darting off down the street, leaving behind a very bewildered little boy. Seconds after rounding the corner at the end of the street, her head popped back around as she shouted, "Don't mind that _onibaba_! You're not a _bakemono_!" And then she was gone again. Naruto blinked before going back to kicking his pebble.

* * *

Anshi Hotaru tapped her foot testily as she waited to be admitted into the Hokage's office. She hated old people; they were all senile fools who were too stuck in their old ways to bother adapting to the changing times, if you asked her. With the exception of the Hokage, of course. The old man was very hip in her opinion. This brought her to wonder just what the old man had called her here for. The _jounin_ who'd given her the message had said that it was important, which was the only reason she bothered to come at all - granted she was a day late, but at least she'd showed up eventually. She'd been in the middle of a very challenging game of Solitaire at the time she recieved the message, and while 'important' told her she should probably show up or she'd be recieving some very crappy missions in the near future, it didn't motivate her enough to put aside her plans for her first day off in over two months. And technically, it had only been about twelve hours since the summons, so it wasn't even a day really. 

The doors were opened and a masked _shinobi_ nodded for her to enter. She stepped inside and fell gracefully into one of the chairs situated in front of the Hokage's desk.

"You certainly took your sweet time," he grumbled around his pipe, pulling off his uniform hat to rub at his aching temples.

"_Gomen, oyaji_! I was busy," she said with a sweet smile.

"Ah," he sighed as he glanced at her skeptically, "At least you showed up this time."

Grinning brightly she chirped, "Your messenger said it was important."

"Indeed." Sarutobi was silent for a moment, staring off at a space that seemed to be just beyond her head.

Hotaru's eyebrows furrowed and her lips formed a thin line as she watched him. "What is it?"

"I have a special assignment for you." When she quirked a curious eyebrow, he continued, "I'd like for you to take some time off from the ANBU to watch over Uzumaki Naruto." His eyes reverted back to her face as he said this, waiting to judge her reaction. The look on her face brought a deep frown to his face. "Hotaru, I thought you of all people would be beyond such ignorant prejudice."

Her eyes widened comically as she sqeaked, "Eh? No, that's not it! It's just, uh, well..." A light blush spread over her cheeks as she grinned at him sheepishly, "Who exactly is he? I know the name sounds familiar, but I just can't place it."

Despite himself, he stared at her, openly agnostic. "You honestly don't know? Where have you been for the past five years?"

"Uh, well, I kind of don't pay much attention to things beyond what I need to know for a mission. And I've been really busy lately with missions. What little free time I have I spend playing cards or just sleeping," she explained, tapping her cheek with her a finger.

Sarutobi sighed and thought for a moment about just how to tell her. Removing his pipe from his mouth and blowing tendrils of smoke past his lips he began, "Naruto is the boy that Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi within." Standing, he walked over to what Hotaru had deemed his 'All Seeing Eye' and removed the cloth cover. An image of a small boy walking down a street while kicking a pebble along came into view. Sarutobi noted her raised eyebrows and looked at her inquiringly.

"Uzumaki? Where'd you come up with a name like that? It doesn't suit him at all," she commented dryly, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs.

Sarutobi walked back over and took his seat again, propping his elbows on the desk in front of him and steepling his fingers. Hotaru sighed as she recognized his 'Please continue' pose. "I ran into him on the way here," she said dismissively, "Back to the point, what all are you entailing when you say 'watch over'?"

A small smile came to his lips at her sudden shift in attitude; it seemed his poor name choice for the boy irked her. "Just after he was born, I made a law that he wasn't to be harmed because of the demon sealed inside of him and that no one was to speak of it again. It seems some are willing to act out against him, despite the ramifications."

"So what? You want me to tail him and keep him out of trouble?"

"For the time being, yes."

"What about his guardians?"

"Naruto doesn't have any guardians. He's been shuffled from orphanage to orphanage for the past few years now. I've had various _jounin_ and _chunnin_ tailing him in secret for quite some time now, but it's come to my attention that they've only been doing what is minimally required. They were at least courteous enough to bring him to the hospital after standing by and watching a group of drunken civilians beat him until he was unconcious."

Nodding, Hotaru stood abruptly and turned to leave. "I'll see what I can do," she grunted as she slid out the door.

* * *

Naruto had debated whether or not he really wanted to return to the park or not, after what had happened yesterday. In the end, he decided that he didn't feel like returning to the orphange just yet so he decided to risk it. He doubted that the drunks from before would show up since they probably thought he was still in the hospital, if they even remembered what had happened at all. 

He fell into the far swing and let his feet drag in the dirt. There were some children playing in the sandbox nearby, but he knew that if he went anywhere near them, their parents, who were sitting on a bench close by, would immediately call them over to go home. They always did.

He often wondered why all of the villagers hated him. He couldn't remember ever having done anything to earn their scorn. But other times he couldn't bring himself to care becuase he knew that the feeling was quite mutual. He couldn't stand the villagers of Konoha. They all shunned him for apparently no reason. The Hokage was the only one to ever talk to him in a friendly manner. He was the only person Naruto liked in all of Konoha. He wished the others would just disappear.

Whenever his thoughts drifted to such topics, something in his belly seemed to shift, and a faint burning would spread to the rest of his body. He assumed that this was what hatred felt like. He had yet to identify what happiness felt like.

**Glossary:**

_kunoichi_- female ninja

_bakemono- _monster_  
_

_onibaba_- hag/spiteful old woman

_ne_- something along the lines of 'you know'...I think...

_mou- _random sound of displeasure_  
_

_gomen_- sorry

_oyaji_- old man/boss

_jounin_- 3rd rank for _shinobi_

_chunnin_- 2nd rank for _shinobi_

_shinobi_- ninja

Anshi Hotaru- night vision firefly

Uzumaki- whirlpool

Naruto- maelstrom (which makes his first and last name quite similar) or steamed fish-paste cake

And just for fun:

Arashi- storm/tempest

Kazama- I think it has something to do with wind...

**A/N: Aw, poor Naru-kun! I just wanna huggle him! Anyway, yeah, the first chapter. It's just so...interesting. I'm thinking about splitting this epic I have planned into three parts: Naruto's childhood, his Genin days, and his early adulthood until he becomes Hokage. Who knows if I'll actually make it that far, but we'll see, ne? It still needs a title though...poo.**

**Next chapter: **Hotaru and Naruto have another encounter, and they visit the Ichiraku! Yummy! Hotaru is more than upset when she learns more indepth details about Naruto's life and goes to speak with the Hokage again. Then a nice surprise cause I feel bad for ending this chapter on such a sad note.

**-mH**


	3. Don't be alarmed

**Disclaimer:** Well, poo. I don't own Naruto. 

**Let It All Out**

**Chapter Two**

Hotaru had been secretly tailing Naruto for a little over a week now. She was not pleased with what she saw, to say the least. The villagers all treated him like he carried the plague -- like he was the Kyuubi and not its cage. She hadn't understood how he could stand to stay out all day and put up with such treatment until she'd observed his life at the orphanage. The other children all refused to share a room with him, so he'd been stuck in a make-shift bedroom that in reality was no more than a wide closet with a mangled matress stuffed inside. Unlike the village children, however, they had no problem with approaching him to pick at his clothes that were the shabbiest she'd ever seen or push him around just for the hell of it.

Unfortunately, the Hokage had informed her that no, she couldn't storm in and 'bust a cap on those little mo' fo's' as she had requested. The bullying was something Naruto would have to deal with on his own, he'd said. Besides, her purpose was to not be seen. Hotaru was seriously starting to get sick of the whole 'Invisible Guardian Angel' gig. Was the Hokage totally oblivious to all the crap the boy was having to put up with?

At least she was allowed to step in and 'restrain' any of the villagers who approached him with any hint of anger or disgust. She'd had quite the time of putting a group of _chunnin_ in their place when one of them had suggested using the boy as target practice, despite their insistence that they were only joking. She highly doubted that they'd be throwing much of anything for a while; the concussions they'd developed from an unexpected freefall would have them holed up in the hospital for quite some time.

The more she shadowed Naruto, though, the more she became depressed herself. As far as she could tell, the only friends he had were random wildlife he stumbled upon during his many walks through the Konoha forests. He never voluntarily participated in any social interaction; he'd hardly even spoken to anyone since she'd been following him, though she had to wonder if it was because he was actually anti-social or if it was because he'd just given up trying after being rudely brushed off so many times.

Despite the smile he always wore, he always just looked so lonely. Admittedly, the smile wasn't really much of a smile: his eyes were always shut just so, making it impossible to see the real emotions behind his self-constructed mask. The smile was always too big in her opinion her, too. It reminded her of the kind she used to give her teammates to get them to leave her alone. She'd hoped that maybe he'd smile a little around the animals he liked to take company with, but if anything, he only looked bitter and even more lonely around them.

After their first encounter when she'd come face-to-face with a scared and incredulous boy, the only other emotion she saw him express was anger. It was always a restrained anger, as if he were too afraid of what the consequences might be if he ever lashed out. She figured that on the day she'd first met him, he'd been too shaken up by the incident with the drunks to bother with his usual mask. It was the only reason she could think of for his behavior to have changed so rapidly from one day to the next.

About the time a gaggle of gossipy housewives walked past and rammed him none too gently into a produce stand, for which he was blamed entirely for and yelled at harshly, she decided that enough was enough. Screw that the old man Hokage had told her not to get too deeply involved. She'd decided to take on a new, self-appointed mission: get Naruto to smile a real smile.

* * *

Hotaru grinned in what she guessed to be a very feral way under her monkey themed ANBU mask as the packed street parted seemlessly to let her through. She didn't think she'd ever get tired of the sheer respect her mask demanded -- being an ANBU was, after all, one of the top honors a shinobi could achieve, short of becoming Hokage. It was such a refreshing change from the glares they'd once greeted her with daily.

She walked swiftly down the street, her eyes intent on her target. He was easy enough to catch up to since he was dragging his feet. She soon passed him and spun on her heel just in front of him, causing him to step back to steady himself as he stopped abruptly. The too-big smile quickly fell as cerulean eyes darted upward to glare at her mask-covered face.

_He's not afraid of an ANBU? _she asked herself wonderingly._ And he's certainly not awestruck like most children. He's an odd one...as if I'm one to talk. But the question is, is he fearless, or just stupid?_ Based on her observations over the past few days, she was leaning toward the latter. He'd cowered in front of an old hag with a broom, but he didn't even bat an eye when confronted by an ANBU; something was very off about that.

"Oy! What's with that look, sour face?" she asked, bending down and lifting her mask to stick her tongue out at him.

"You!" Naruto gasped as his eyes widened.

"Me!" Hotaru mocked while letting her mask fall back into place as she straightened back up.

"You're an ANBU?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Quite obviously."

Naruto's eyes narrowed again as he exclaimed indignantly, "No way! You're too ditzy to be an ANBU!"

Hotaru was suddenly grateful for her mask as she felt a twitch quite noticeably coming on. _Ditzy?_ she thought in outrage. _Calm down; no point in losing your temper now._ With a long sigh, her former amused air was back. "You of all people should know better than to judge a book by its cover, _ne_?" Naruto scoffed and looked away.

"Oh! I know!" Hotaru exclaimed suddenly, startling Naruto. "Let's go get some food!" Manuevering around behind him, she placed her hands on his shoulders and began steering him down the street. She was glad to note that he brightened when she said, "My treat!" and began to lead her through the crowded streets of Konoha to what she assumed was his favorite restaurant, both blissfully ignoring the odd looks they were recieving from the villagers.

**Glossary:**

_ANBU- _**An**satsu Senjutsu Tokushu **Bu**tai or Assassination Tactics Special Squad

**A/N: Yeah, it's short. Sorry, but I have a crapload of stuff due for AP English that I've been working on, and I spent twelve hours in a car yesterday going to and from a basketball game. Stupid state tournament. We're going even farther tomorrow morning. And due to recent inclement weather, we might get stuck in the mountains on our way there. Fun. Anyway, special thanks to my reviewers: **naashLbcLostKid**, and **Kiia**! Reviews make me all warm and fuzzy inside. :3  
**

**Next chapter:** Even though it was supposed to happen in this chapter, Hotaru and Naruto are headed to Ichiraku, where they'll have a conversation of some sort. Then Hotaru's off to talk to the Hokage and Naruto's in for a pleasent surprise!

**-mH**


	4. When the wound begins to bleed

**Disclaimer:** What do you mean I don't own Naruto? -goes off to cry in corner- 

**Let It All Out**

**Chapter Three**

Hotaru had decided that Naruto wasn't anti-social -- he'd certainly had no problem talking to her, if only to insult her by claiming that she was unworhty of being an ANBU because of her alleged ditziness. He didn't talk a lot, though. Or it was more that he was guarded with how much he said, careful not to say too much or be too annoying.

They'd been sitting at Ichiraku in silence since they'd arrived and ordered. Hotaru was hoping that Naruto would have started a conversation of some sort while they waited, but he just sat there playing with his chopsticks, glancing up every now and then to watch the man behind the counter prepare their meal.

Hotaru had been surprised that he'd dragged her here. Whenever someone offered to treat her to a meal (which wasn't very often, much to her chagrin), she always picked a restaurant that she hardly ever visited becuase it was too expensive. Then she berated herself quite harshly in her mind. To an orphan in Naruto's position, Ichiraku _was_ a restaurant that he hardly ever visited because it was too expensive. She also noted that the owner of Ichiraku treated Naruto like any other customer. She briefly wished that she had come by this ramen stand before; she hated having to always go out in her ANBU attire, mask and all, just to get service from the many prejudice food venders of Konoha.

Drumming her fingers on the counter absent-mindedly, she tried to think of a topic to get a conversation going. Even after observing him for over a week, she had no idea about any of his hobbies or likes or dislikes. Well, except for the forest animals and swings. Naruto seemed to be quite fond of both.

"Ne, Naruto-kun, do you like animals?" she asked, propping her elbow up on the counter and resting her head against her palm.

Naruto froze for a second, one of his chopsticks clattering to the countertop. He'd never been addressed as '-kun' before. He'd never really been addressed as anything, actually. Most people didn't use his name when refering to him. He glanced in Hotaru's direction and nodded, "Yeah."

"What's you favorite kind? I like monkeys," she stated with a grin as she tapped her ANBU mask, which she had removed and set down on the counter when they'd arrived and she'd observed that the owner didn't care who she was, so long as she was a customer. Naruto shrugged and went back to twirling his chopsticks clumsily. Hotaru's head fell from her hand to hit the counter with a small _thunk_. She sighed exasperatedly. _Well that went well. I can't remember the last I had such a stimulating conversation... Time for the blunt approach._

She slowly lifted her head up enough to look at him determinedly. "You don't have to keep up your guards around me. I know how tiring it can be. I'm not going to pick on you and bully you like the kids at the orphange or glare at you and insult you like the rest of the villagers, you know."

Naruto's head whipped around to face her in a flash as his eyes narrowed, "How did you --?" He stopped abruptly, his eyes widening. "You're the guy that's been followin' me around!" he exclaimed.

_He knew I was there? I need to seriously work on masking my chakra if a kid his age was sensing me..._

"Yeah, I've been following you. For about a week now actually. But before you freak out, I was assigned to play bodyguard for you by the Hokage, after what happened with those drunks and all," she explained calmly. She briefly wondered if she was allowed to tell Naruto that but quickly brushed it aside; she was too pissed off in general with the way that people treated Naruto to really care about her assignment.

Naruto looked away the moment she mentioned the drunks, his bangs falling over his eyes to hide them from view.

"Ne," she began hesistantly, "I've been wanting to ask you something for a while now. Why don't you ever fight back? Why do you just let the villagers do whatever they want to you?"

Naruto kept his head down and was silent. Just when she thought she'd gotten all she would out of him, he whispered, "Because at least then they have to acknowledge me. It's better than being ignored."

Hotaru's breath caught in her throat. _Is this kid really only five? He's undeniably precocious. To be able to always put up such a tough act when he's so lonely. But that's just it, it's all just an act._ Pushing herself back up into a sitting position, her eyes fell on her ANBU mask. She picked it up and deftly slid it over his face. He turned toward in what she could only assume was a questioning manner since all she could see was a gleefully grinning monkey.

"Whenever you wear this mask, you can let all your guards down and just be yourself. No one can see past it, so no one will be able to see your mask slip. You're a kid, Naruto. You don't need to keep up a front all the time. It's alright to just let it all out every now and then," she told him, her voice solemn.

"But the villagers --" he started.

"Don't worry about the villagers anymore, alright? So long as I'm here, you've got nothing to worry about. I'll protect you Naruto. No matter what," she promised as a smile spread over her face.

For the first time in his life, Naruto willingly dropped his guards and a single tear fell from his eye. When he realized that he had actually let himself cry, even if it was only one tear, he froze. But then he relaxed; Hotaru's ANBU mask hid his face from view and did a better job of masking his emotions than he ever had. He was instantly fond of the red-and-white monkey-themed mask. It was perfect for hiding away from the world.

They sat looking at each other in silence until two bowls being placed onto the counter pulled them back to the present. Naruto happily sang out, "_Itadakimasu_!" as he picked up his chopsticks and began devouring his miso ramen. He didn't take the mask off while he ate. He merely lifted it up enough to shove the slick noodles under it and into his mouth.

Hotaru snorted at his antics and split her own chopsticks. Clapping her hands together, she chirped, "_Itadakimasu_!" and twirled her chopsticks expertly into position. Just as she was done blowing on the noodles to cool them off and about to take her first bite, she was stopped by an awed, "How'd you do that?"

"Do what?" she asked perplexedly, turning her head to look at Naruto, who had himself stopped mid-bite to question her.

"That thing! With your chopsticks!" he exclaimed as he attempted to twirl his own chopsticks like she had, forgetting in his excitement that he'd just picked up some noodles and flinging them across the counter.

Hotaru giggled behind her hand and ate her own noodles before asking, "This?" She rolled one of the chopsticks back and forth over her knuckles. Naruto's head bobbed up and down vigurously, causing the mask to slip down to his nose. Laughing, Hotaru pushed it back up and grabbed his hand, positioning one of his chopsticks between his pointer and middle finger. "Push it with your thumb and thread it back and forth through your fingers," she instucted as she moved his hand carefully through the actions.

Around his fourth try, Naruto was starting to get the hang of it, so Hotaru decided to introduce the other chopstick to the twirling. When he accidentally sent it flying toward the owner's daughter, who whimpered, "Itai..." when it hit her head, Hotaru decided that further instruction was better left for another day. Naruto agreed before apologizing profusely to the girl and her father. They quickly forgave him and laughed it off, the daughter bringing him a new set of chopsticks and handing them to him with a sweet smile.

Hotaru and Naruto were silent while they continued eating, but the comfortable silence was soon broken by a hesitant question from Naruto, "Ano, can I get another bowl?"

Slurping up a few noodles that were quite persistantly sticking to her chin, Hotaru replied, "You can have as many as you want."

"Really?" he asked excitedly.

"Really."

"_Arigatou_!" Naruto chirped. He turned to the owner and asked for another bowl. While he was waiting he bounced impatiently on his stool, bringing a soft smile to Hotaru's lips. She couldn't be sure since the mask covered his face, but she thought she had distinctly heard a smile in his voice. A genuine smile. She called out to the owner to fix her another bowl as well and hummed a cheerful tune in her head. Mission: success.

* * *

_He didn't have to eat that much..._ Hotaru whined mentally, patting her now-empty purse.

She'd just dropped Naruto off at the orphanage, though she'd been reluctant to do so. He'd slipped off the mask to give back to her once they were at the orphange doors, shaking his head so that his bangs fell back over his eyes. Hotaru had caught the utterly lonely look that passed over his features before he could hide it though.

She had bent down and pushed the mask back toward him. "You keep it for now," she'd told him with a small smile. His lips had twitched upwards as he bobbed a small bow and thanked her, gratefully replacing the mask over his face. One of the orphan caretakers had come out then and yelled at him to get to bed. Naruto had dashed past him and bolted for his room without a second glance.

The caretaker had glared at Hotaru and slammed the doors with a snarl. She'd grown so used to always wearing her mask around town that she'd forgotten that without it a vast majority of the villagers were still prone to cling to their blissful ignorance (which she preferred to call stupidity) and revert back to being openly hostile with her whenever they recognized her.

She huffed and stumped her foot on the ground in a mini-tantrum at the memory before forcing herself to remain calm. As much as she would have liked to storm back there and bust through the doors to wail on that idiotic man until all her frustrations were exhausted, she couldn't. She had some business that needed to be taken care of immediately. Taking to the roofs on Konoha, she began to make her way toward the Hokage Tower.

**Glossary:**

_Itadakimasu_- expression of gratitude before meals

_Arigatou_- thank you

**A big huge thank you to the reviewers: **LbcLostKidATNICTOWT**, and **Lepus Iratus

**ATNICTOWT:** I can't actually answer your questions in any kind of detail, cause that would kind of spoil the story. But yeah, that stuff's going to happen.

**Lepus Iratus:** I hate writing solid descriptions. I don't know why, I just do. I prefer to just draw pictures of the characters. Unfortunately, I don't even really have a good picture of Hotaru in my mind, otherwise I'd draw a picture and give you a link to it. The best I can give you right now is that she looks a bit like Haku, though her haistyle is different. Different how, I haven't decided yet. Sorry.

**A/N: Why am I so incapable of including all that I want to include in a chapter? I suppose I could hold off on posting this until I finish writing the rest of what I had planned, but that may take a while. AP English is becoming sheer torture. I have more homework in that one class than I do in all the rest combined. Plus I have a Spanish project due this week that I have yet to start. Anyway, review! Oh, and tell me what you'd prefer: more frequent updates with shorter chapters, or long chapters with lengthy gaps in updates? Please and thank you!**

**-mH**


	5. Cause we're so scared to find out

**Disclaimer: These are starting to get really annoying... I don't own _Naruto_.**

**Let It All Out**

**Chapter Four**

Sarutobi was reluctant to return to his office. He'd taken the majority of the day off to visit his grandson who'd just learned to walk and was regretting leaving such a large pile of paperwork untouched all day. The already hefty stack had no doubt doubled in size since that morning. He turned into the corridor that his office was located on and paused when he felt a faint flicker of chakra coming from behind the closed doors at the end of the hall.

The two ANBU guards who had been walking behind him stopped as well, wondering silently why the Hokage had stopped just outside his office. As Sarutobi gestured for them to come forward and open the doors, they felt the faint chakra signature and immediately pulled out _kunai_. Moving to the doors stealthily, one of the ANBU reached forward and pushed open the doors. They both fell into defensive stances as they scanned the room for the intruder. Seeing no one, they stepped cautiously into the office and Sarutobi came up behind them, standing just in the doorway.

The chakra flickered again and Sarutobi's eye twitched at the familiar feel of it. The chair behind his desk swivelled around to reveal a _kunoichi_ lounging in it with her back resting against one arm of the chair and her feet hanging over the other.

"_Konbanha_!" Hotaru called, grinning cheekily and waving at the three by the door. The two ANBU guards nearly fell over from shock as they recognized the infamous ANBU. Sarutobi walked forward, dismissing the guards with a wave of his hand and waiting until the doors were closed behind him to address his visitor.

"Did you need something?" he asked as he approached her, motioning for her to vacate his chair. She did so with a pout before walking around his desk and pushing some of the many stacks of paper to the side to clear herself a seat.

She plopped down on the desk and crossed her legs. Turning her head back toward him she replied, "You know, I was always to fond of the name Ka --"

"State your business or leave me to my paperwork, Anshi-san," he snapped, clearly not in the mood for more of her not-so-subtle suggestions that he change Naruto's family name to that of his father. She'd been dropping such 'hints' all week and he had no desire to get into another argument with her about why he planned to do no such thing.

"Are you feeling alright?" she asked with a frown, leaning forward to examine his face more closely, "You sound tired..."

"Anshi," he growled while reaching for a stack of papers that needed to be signed. He'd learned over the years that Hotaru was much easier to deal with if you focused on something else while talking to her. If she didn't have her audience's full attention, she was less likely to beat around the bush. It wasn't any fun for her to dodge around a topic if the person she was talking to was too busy with something else to give her the reactions she was looking for.

"Fine, fine," she mumbled with a sigh. Her tone was all business when she spoke again, "I want to be removed from the ANBU and active duty indefinitely."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow but didn't remove his eyes from his paperwork. "Dare I ask why?"

"Naruto's going to be moving in with me, so I won't have much time for missions. And just as soon as you sign the necessary paperwork, I'm going to drag him out of that hellhole of an orphanage," she informed him matter-of-factly.

Both of Sarutobi's eyebrows shot up at hearing this. "Does Naruto know about this?"

"Not yet," she replied, waving her hand as if to say that Naruto was going to move in with her whether he liked or not, so it really didn't matter if he knew ahead of time or not.

"Do you plan on adopting him?" he asked while pausing in his work to look back at her.

"Whether I do or not, that's up to him. But I do plan on broaching the subject with him in the near future," she told him.

"So he gets to decide if you adopt him, but he has no say in the matter of moving in with you?" Sarutobi questioned bemusedly.

"As his bodyguard," Hotaru began haughtily, "I feel that moving out of the orphanage is prudent to his safety and health."

"Do you indeed?" the Hokage muttered, more to himself than Hotaru. Setting down his pen and giving Hotaru his full attention he asked solemnly, "Are you sure about this? You only just turned eighteen, if I'm not mistaken. Taking care a child is a huge responsibility, and Naruto will be an even larger responsibility."

Hotaru's fists clenched as she jumped up off the desk, turning back toward Sarutobi with a vicious glare. "There's no way I can just not do anything to help him after seeing what his life is like! Do you have any idea about all the crap that kid has to put up with?" she demanded harshly, "I'm amazed he hasn't lashed out at those ignorant fools or hurt himself, because despite his all-smiles attitude, he's lonely and depressed. Granted, five-year-olds don't really dwell on the topic of suicide, but given his situation..." Hotaru trailed off and shook her head to get herself back on topic. "How can you sleep at night? You're the only person that kid has, and you just sit back and let all kinds of shit happen to him. I know that you're busy, being the Hokage and all, but really. He needs someone to look out for him. He needs a parental figure."

"Well, he has you now, doesn't he? So it shouldn't be a problem anymore," Sarutobi returned pleasantly with a soft smile as he held out a small stack of papers. Hotaru huffed and snatched them from his hand, spinning on her heel to leave the office.

Just as she reached the doors, Sarutobi called out, "Oh, and Hotaru? Would you mind waiting outside my office next time I'm not here? I'm one of the few in this town that can sense your chakra, and it wouldn't due for a messenger to come in and mistake you for an enemy."

_A.k.a. You nearly gave me a heart attack and I'm too old to take those kinds of scares too often. Pfft. Stupid oyaji._ Hotaru thought with a scowl. Reaching for the door handle she paused and looked back at the old man over her shoulder. "Oh, that reminds me," she started distractedly, completely forgetting that she was supposed to be storming out dramatically.

"Yes?" Sarutobi asked, unable to conceal a chuckle at her quick change in moods.

"Naruto said that he sensed me when I was following him. Have you been training with him or something?" she asked curiously.

"No. And I highly doubt that Naruto sensed you. He probably just picked up your scent," he replied while picking his pen back up and returning to his paperwork.

"You make it sound as if he's an Inuzuka," Hotaru commented, tilting her head to the side.

"Since he's going to be living with you, you'll no doubt soon come to find that the Kyuubi aids him quite a bit. Naruto heals remarkably fast and has rather acute senses," he told her.

"_Naruhodo_..." she muttered as she turned back around and exited his office, lost deep in thought.

* * *

Naruto awoke with a start when his door was slowly opened. His back was to the door, so he remained lying down, pretending to still be asleep while slowly inching his hand under his pillow where he kept a dull _kunai_ hidden. Just as his fingers curled around the hilt, he felt breath on the back of his neck ghosting over his ear as a voice whispered, "Oy, stop pretending; I know you're awake."

Naruto jerked around, aiming to stab the person behind him but found his arm was quickly restrained by the person's hand. "You're awfully jumpy tonight, aren't you?" the voice asked. Naruto stared up at the person's face, registering the voice as fiamiliar while his eyes slowly focused in the darkness to make out the frame of the _kunoichi_ he kept meeting.

"It's you again!" he exclaimed.

Hotaru covered his mouth and hissed, "Shh! Do you want to wake 'em all up?"

Shoving her hand away roughly, he demanded, "What are you doin' here? You're gonna get me in trouble!"

"I'm here to get you _out_ of here," she explained in a hushed but still irritated tone. "Hurry up and pack all your stuff."

Nodding numbly, he scrambled up and began gathering the few possessions he owned, stuffing them into a bag that Hotaru handed him.

* * *

Naruto trailed a few feet behind Hotaru, readjusting the straps of the pack on his back and looking around the dark streets furtively. "Um, where exactly are we goin'?"

"My apartment," Hotaru responded shortly as she turned right at a fork in the street. She was wondering if maybe sneaking him out of the orphanage and just leaving a note behind to explain his absence wasn't the best course of action. She hadn't wanted to deal with that idiotic caretaker again though. She wasn't very sure that she would be able to control her temper around him for very long if they were to meet again.

"Why are we going to your apartment?" he asked curiously.

"You're moving in with me," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Movin' in with you? What? But I don't even know you!" he burst out, stopping in the middle of street.

"Eh?" Hotaru murmured as she turned around to regard him perplexedly. "Oh, that's right! I never introduced myself, did I?" she asked sheepishly. "I'm Anshi Hotaru, former member of the ANBU as of today. I like card games and junk food, especially chocolate cake. I dislike having to fill out mission reports and I can't stand being underestimated simply because I'm a female. How's that?" she chirped bubbly.

Naruto stared at Hotaru uncertainly. He didn't know what to make of her. She wasn't like any of the other villagers. She actually stood up for him that one time. And she treated him to ramen. Plus she said that the old man Hokage had sent her to look after him. But could he really trust her? And why was she insisting that he move in with her? It was all so sudden and confusing.

"Ne, Naruto," Hotaru began kindly with a soft smile, "I promise it'll be alright. I already talked to Hokage-sama and he said it was alright. We can go by his place and talk to him about it if you'd like, and I've got some papers from him right here if you want to look at them." She held the papers from the Hokage out to him and he eyed them cautiously. "If you really don't want to move in with me, then I can take you back to the orphanage right now without anyone being any the wiser."

Naruto bit his lip as he mulled it all over in his head. True, he didn't really know this Anshi Hotaru, but the old man trusted her if those papers were anything to go by, and they certainly looked offical even though he couldn't read them. This strange _kunoichi_ had shown him more kindness in two days than he'd ever recieved during his entire time at the orphange. Living with her would have to be better than staying there. He cringed as he remembered the verbal thrashing he'd been given a few hours earlier from the caretaker who had yelled at him to go to bed when Hotaru had dropped him off. The harsh words had been nothing compared to the stinging slap he'd gotten for trying to explain why he'd been out so late, though.

Swallowing the lump in his throat he whispered, "I do wanna talk to the old man, but for now it's fine, I guess..."

Hotaru grinned and continued to make her way through the empty streets leading to her apartment building. When they arrived, she unlocked the door and stepped in, kicking her sandals off at the door and making her way to the hall closet to pull out some spare blankets. Around the time she pulled down a blue comforter, Hotaru realized that she'd just been duped into voluntarily taking in a five-year-old roommate. _Clever, oyaji. Very clever indeed. _He'd no doubt been planning all of this from the very beginning, knowing him.

Turning around to look for Naruto, she noticed that he was still standing at the door holding his sandals and pack nervously.

"Naruto?" she inquired softly.

Naruto began to gnaw at his lip again before stuttering quietly, "_T-tadaima_..."

Hotaru smiled warmly as she approached him and bent down so that she was looking him in the eyes. "_Okarinasai_, Naruto-kun." _I suppose I can let the old man get away with it just this once._

And as Naruto followed her hesitantly into the apartment, he felt a warm something bubbling up near his stomach. It wasn't the red hot anger he normally felt, or the icy cold pangs of loneliness. He wasn't sure what it was axactly, but it was a nice feeling and Naruto began to think that maybe this was what happiness was like. He hugged his pack to his chest and smiled.

**Glossary:**

_kunai- _ninja knife thing

_konbanha_- good evening

_naruhodo- _I see

_tadaima_- I'm home

_okarinasai_- Welcome home

**A/N: Finally. The past three chapters were originally supposed to be one whole chapter, but I just kept breaking it up for the sake of updates. I'm not sure why, but this chapter just feels longer than the others. Maybe it's because it took me so long to write it. Ah well. Next chapter: Stuff actually starts happening! Yay! And Naruto makes a friend! (Who knows if I'll actually include all the stuff I have planned for chapter five in chapter five...) Anyway, thanks oodles to the wonderful reviewers: **LbcLostKidDemonNarutoblackrose113ATNICTOWTcbsnesEvil Fuzzy Bunnyangelloverkk**, and **Hiakaru**! Reviews make madHATTER a very happy writer!**

**-mH**


	6. What this life's all about

**Disclaimer: **If I owned _Naruto_, do you seriously think I'd be writing fanfiction? Well, maybe, 'cause I think it'd be kind of fun to read and write fanfiction to your own original work, but that's besides the point... I don't own _Naruto_. 

**Let It All Out**

**Chapter Five**

Hotaru made her way sluggishly into the kitchen still clad in her cow-themed pajamas, her arms high over her head as she stretched the muscles in her back. Naruto glanced up from where he was seated at the little table in front of a game of Solitaire but didn't comment on her strange attire. He had the first day he'd been there, to which she'd mysteriously replied, "Eat more chicken." Naruto had been greatly confused by this answer at first, though by now he figured that she'd been talking about chicken-flavored ramen. Why did she want him to eat more chicken-flavored ramen though? Miso ramen was so much better...

Hotaru fell into the seat across from him and rested her head on her folded arms. She sleepily watched as Naruto turned over three more cards from a pile and placed the nine of diamonds on the ten of hearts. "You have to switch the colors each time," she reminded him with a yawn. "You can stack the same suit in Spider Solitaire, but I'm missing a deck of cards so I don't have enough cards to teach you that one just yet."

"I'm playing a different game," he insisted grumpily. Hotaru snorted and buried her face in the crook of her arm. With a tentative glance to make sure that she was no longer looking, Naruto replaced the nine back in the pile and continued flipping the cards.

A feral growl made Naruto jump a few minutes later. Hotaru frowned and glared at her stomach, pushing herself up with an incoherent grumble and stumbling over to the refridgerator. Opening the door, she leaned against it heavily as she surveyed the contents of the small fridge: a carton of milk, half a stick of butter, eggs, a rotten tomatoe, leftovers from _Ichiraku _(which Naruto had dragged her to again when she allowed him to pick a place for them to eat the night before), and half a bag of chocolate chips. The chocolate chips and tomatoe were curious; she didn't remember having bought either recently, though from the look of the tomatoe, it had been there for quite a while.

"I seriously need to go to the store," she mumbled, reaching for the eggs and milk.

"You've been sayin' that all week," Naruto told her.

Shooting him a glare that only made him grin in satisfaction, she snatched up a loaf of bread from the counter and stomped over to the toaster. Naruto's grin quickly melted into an angry frown as he exclaimed, "Can't you make pancakes or something?"

"Do you _want_ to die prematurely from food poisoning?" she hissed back as she fought with the elusive twisty-tie on the bread bag.

"But all you ever fix is eggs and toast!" he wailed back. "_Burnt_ toast!"

Hotaru could feel her temper rising as she instructed herself to take deep, supposedly soothing breaths in an attempt to stay calm. "Fine!" she grumbled, slamming the fridge door open again to get the chocolate chips and butter out. "Grab that cookbook on the shelf over there and get me a bowl, you little brat."

There was a screech as the chair legs were pushed back across the kitchen floor tiles and Naruto slid from the seat. Rushing over to the counter under the shelf, he reached up and curled his fingers around the edge and used a drawer handle to push himself up onto his knees on the counter. He pulled down the cookbook, set it on the counter and scooted over to a cabinet beside the shelf to carefully get out a bowl.

Hotaru came over and picked him up, setting him back down on the floor before taking the bowl and book to where she'd left the ingredients. "Crack two eggs in here," she instructed as she handed him a plastic cup. With a nod, Naruto pulled the carton of eggs down and, cradling the carton with both arms while holding the cup with his right hand, made his way back to his chair.

Having cracked two eggs against the edge of the table, emptied the gooey insides into the cup, and scooped out the larger of piece of shell that he'd accidentally dropped in, Naruto was on his way to add the eggs in with the milk and oil in the bowl when Hotaru picked up a bag of flour and poured half of it into the bowl. "Ah!" he screeched, "Ya have to measure it!"

"It doesn't have to be exact, you know," Hotaru informed him exasperatedly, her hand on her hip as she regarded him with a glare.

"If you wasn't supposed to measure it, they wouldn't of told you how much stuff to put in the bowl in the first place!" he exclaimed.

Had Naruto not been so distressed over the pancake batter having been ruined by too much (or too little, he couldn't read so he couldn't be sure) flour, he would have grinned from ear-to-ear at the look of sheer agitation on Hotaru's face. With one last eye twitch, Hotaru picked up the bag of flour and dumped its remaining contents on Naruto's head, which promptly stopped his whining. _Much better_.

Coughing through the white dust surrounding his head, Naruto glared at Hotaru, who smiled back at him sickly-sweet. With a wild battle-cry, he flung the contents of the cup he was still holding at her. She easily dodged the messy yolks and sped over to the other end of the kitchen. The next second, Naruto was at the table, throwing egg after egg at her as Hotaru dodged each one with exagerated theatrics. Finding that he was down to his last egg, Naruto's eyes narrowed as he observed her, waiting for the oppurtune moment to attack. Now that they were at a stand-still of sorts, the two cautiously began circling the kitchen, eyes carefully watching the other's movements.

"Ha!" Hotaru cried gleefully, "Pitiful mortal! I am the great ninja Hotaru! You're eggs cannot hit me!"

Naruto's arm jerked back and Hotaru ducked behind the table. When she didn't hear the customary _splat_ of an egg breaking against a solid surface, she slowly peeked around a chair and was met with slimy, oozing egg yolk dripping down her hair and face as Naruto smashed the last egg on top of her head.

Looking up, she came face-to-face with Naruto -- who'd climbed onto the table to wait for her to come out from under it -- and a wide, mischevious fox grin. "You forgot that I am the great Naruto! My skills are more legendary than the Hokage!" he declared.

"Alright, alright. I'll seceed victory to you. For now," she said grudgingly. Strolling leisurely back to the counter where the bowl was still sitting, she announced, "Now to finish making breakfast!" Naruto nodded enthusiastically in agreement, hopping down and coming to stand beside her.

Suddenly he wailed, "Ah! All the eggs are gone now!"

Raising an eyebrow at the pouting boy, Hotaru walked back to the refridgerator and magically produced another carton of eggs from somewhere within the mysterious depths. She set it down on the counter by the bowl and chirped, "Ta-da!"

* * *

Hotaru and Naruto looked down at the odd shaped blobs that were supposedly chocolate chip pancakes. They glanced wearily at each other, simultaneously gulping.

"This was your idea. You try 'em first," Hotaru insisted.

Naruto stared back at her, his face pale with horror, and gasped, "What kinda guardian are you, huh?"

"Fine, a compromise. We'll try 'em at the same time. Agreed?" she reasoned, poking the brown blobs on her plate experimentally.

Naruto nodded and the countdown commenced.

"3...2...1!"

All was silent as they chewed and swallowed. Then they suddenly both cried out elatedly, "Success!"

* * *

Hotaru made her way to her usual training ground, taking the actual forest path instead of racing through the trees like she usually did since Naruto had decided to tag along. Her hair was still wet from when she washed the egg out of it half an hour ago, sticking annoyingly to her neck and dampening the back of her shirt. She pulled it back into a thin ponytail and tied it at the base of her neck with a yellow ribbon.

Naruto was walking on a fallen long behind her, his arms stretched out as he swayed, trying to keep his balance. "_Ne_, I thought you stopped takin' missions," Naruto said as they came to a stop at a clearing.

"I did," Hotaru replied shortly, withdrawing a _kunai_ and walking over to a tree on the other side of the clearing to carve out a target circle.

"So how come you still gotta train?" he badgered. He found a tree stump on the outskirts of the clearing and climbed up to sit on it.

"Just because I'm off active duty, that doesn't mean that I can just slack off. If I let my skills get rusty, it could prove fatal later on. As a Konoha _shinobi_, I must always be prepared to protect Konoha," she explained absent-mindedly, most of her attention focused on her target as she withdrew three _shurikan_ and snapped her wrist, embedding all three in the center of the target barely a centimeter from each other.

Naruto was quiet for a while after that, too interested in watching her train to bother with talking. After a few minutes of target practice, she had moved on to_ taijutsu_ warm-up patterns, her limbs moving easily through the routine. Each new step seemed to flow seemlessly from the first, flowing together like water.

When she moved on to reptitive punches and kicks, he announced, "I wanna be an ANBU when I grow up."

Hotaru's movements didn't slow, but she asked, "Since when?"

"Now, I guess," Naruto replied after a moment of thought.

She glanced in his direction as she shifted her weight onto her right leg to practice kicks with her left. "How come?"

He leaned forward on the stump, eager to explain, "The ANBU are like the greatest _shinobi_ in the whole village! Well, 'cept for the Hokage... Plus, they get to wear masks. I really like the masks."

_I know. I only got you to stop wearing mine 24/7 yesterday after hours of intense persuasion and bribery. I'm surprised you're not wearing it now_. She sighed and said, "Hunter-nins wear masks too, you know."

Naruto blinked and was silent for a minute while he thought over this new development. Then he proclaimed with a wide girn, "I'll be a hunter-nin too!"

Hotaru sighed exasperatedly, finally stopping her warm-ups to face Naruto with her arms crossed. "It's not all it's cracked up to be. There's a lot more to it than just getting to wear a mask, _Gaki-chan_," she explained with her eyes narrowed.

He scowled at the nickname. "I know, I know," he replied, waving his hand as if the other stuff really wasn't important enough to even discuss.

"Uh-huh," she began sarcastically, about to start in on a lecture on how difficult being an ANBU really was and how he'd never survive if he was only interested in getting a mask of his own when a ninja appeared in the clearing amidst a smoky cloud.

"Excuse me," he said with a slight bow. Hotaru regarded him curiously before her gaze was drawn toward Naruto who'd suddenly tensed, pulling her ANBU mask out form under his jacket and sliding it over his face. _I should've known..._

"Anshi-san," the ninja, a _chuunin_ she noted absently, began to gain her attention, "Hokage-sama has requested your immediate presence. He said to tell you that it was an emergency of the utmost importance." With another puff of smoke, he was gone, but Naruto didn't relax.

_Emergency of the utmost importance? He usually only says that about A or S-rank missions he wants to assign me so that I'll show up relatively on time...Though maybe it's something about Naruto._

Closing her eyes so that Naruto couldn't see the worry swirling in them, she smiled easily and said, "Maybe he finally got those papers that I needed filled out. You wanna come? Or do you want me to drop you off at home?"

"Home," he answered shortly. Hotaru sighed sadly. _And we're back to square one..._

* * *

Sarutobi was more than faintly surprised to see Anshi Hotaru walk into his office barely an hour after he'd summoned her. He'd expected her to tease him about the no doubt highly comical look on his face, but she didn't say a word as she sat in the chair in front of his desk, waiting patiently for him to start the conversation.

He leaned forward to push a small stack of papers towards her, saying solemnly, "I need you to accompany an ANBU squad on their mission."

Hotaru stared at him through dangerously slitted eyes and stayed leaning back in her chair. Crossing her arms over her chest, she reminded him, "I'm no longer an active _shinobi_."

"I know," he sighed, picking up his pipe and lighting it, "But this mission requires your...expertise, shall we say?"

"Oh joy, yet another suicide mission," she spat, finally reaching out to pick up the papers. Flipping through them, she blew at her long bangs in frustration. Looking back at Sarutobi, she stated, "I'll only go if you promise to look after Naruto personally while I'm gone."

"Ah," he replied with a faint smile, immensly relieved that she'd agreed without argument. "He can meet my grandson Konohamaru. They could both use a new playmate."

Nodding, Hotaru stood and began to exit the office, before turning back to tell him, "Oh, and would you mind telling your ANBU squad that I'll be the boss on this one? I realize that I resigned from my position as ANBU captain, but if you want me on this one, I'll need to be in charge. It's the only way I can ensure our safe return."

"I figured as much. I'll have them informed immediately. Thank you, Hotaru-san," he said sincerely.

"Yeah, yeah. Just remember,_ oyaji_: you owe me one big time," she grumbled as she left, raising her hand in parting as the doors closed behind her.

**Glossary:**

_kunai- _ninja throwing knife

_shinobi- _ninja

_shurikan- _ninja throwing star

_taijutsu- _hand-to-hand combat

_chuunin- _middle ninja rank

_gaki- _brat

_oyaji- _old man

**A/N: Sorry about the lateness. The ACC Tournament was on last weekend. Duke so shouldn't have won that. At least Carolina is still going on to the NCAA. Go Tarheels! Plus, I was working on getting up a webpage, which hopefully will be functional soon. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! And thanks to people who just read! And now, it's review time! Please? I do so love having notices from the fanfic bot in my inbox.**

**-mH**


	7. So scared we're going to lose it

**Disclaimer: **Why, oh why can't I own _Naruto_? Oh, that's right; _Naruto_ belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. 

**Let It All Out**

**Chapter Six**

"_Tadaima_!" Hotaru called out as she entered the apartment, closing the door behind her and kicking off her sandals. When she recieved no reply, she shouted, "Oi! _Gaki-chan_!" Again there was no response and Hotaru quickly made her way down the short hall toward the kitchen, frowning and reminding herself to remain calm.

She turned into the kitchen and stopped abruptly with a relieved sigh. Naruto was sitting at the table, his back to her, fiddling with her mask. "Naruto?" she asked gently as she came up behind him to lean over his shoulder and look into his eyes, which were firmly fixated an the mask.

His wide blue eyes flickered in her direction for a split second and he mumbled, "_Okarinasai_."

Hotaru gave him a close-eyed smile and moved around to the other side of the table, sitting in the chair stiffly as she debated how best to broach her topic.

_This is just great. I finally got him to open up a bit and then that damn _oyaji_ just up and assigns me a mission. How am I supposed to tell Naruto that I have to leave when I just told him that I wouldn't have any more missions? And how am I supposed to ask him to hand over my mask? He treats it as if it's his only lifeline._

Hotaru groaned frustratedly. Naruto was still playing with the mask. She took a deep breath and began. "So, I talked with _oyaji_. He had a super important mission for me. I know I said that I wouldn't have anymore, but he really needs me to go on this one. I'll only be gone for a few days. Maybe only three if I'm lucky..."

_He still isn't looking at me. Gah! What was I thinking, just taking in a kid all of a sudden? I'm in no position to be demanding time off. Plus I'm no good with kids in the first place. I can't even bring myself to take on agenin __ team. What have I gotten myself into? Or more accurately, just what did _oyaji_ Hokage manipulate me into? And why hasn't Naruto said anything? Don't tell me he's completely shut down on me. And just when things were going so well..._ Hotaru raved silently. Her fingers were drumming on the table top nervously.

She froze when Naruto muttered something so quietly she could only make out the end of it, "...Promised..."

"Eh?" she asked, leaning across the table so that she could hear him better. "What was that?"

"You promised that you'd protect me," Naruto whispered tightly.

"And I'm going to keep that promise," she assured him, "I've already made arrangements for you to stay with _oyaji_ and his family while I'm away. I know it's kind of a round-a-bout way of keeping my promise, but nothing will happen to you while I'm gone. I mean, who better to look after you in my stead than the Hokage himself?"

Naruto didn't answer. His hands had finally stilled and the mask was lying silently in his lap. Suddenly he bit his lip and picked the mask up, quickly hiding his face with it.

"What's wrong?" Hotaru asked worriedly. "I'm really sorry that I have to leave, but I'll be back before you know it and--"

"_Shinobi_ die on missions."

Hotaru abruptly stopped with her rambling attempts to pacify him and simply stared at Naruto, mouth agape.

_So he's worried that I won't come back and he'll end up back at that orphange. I guess that means he hasn't shut down on me yet. Dare I think he might actually miss me while I'm gone?_ Hotaru stood and walked back around the table slowly. When she reached Naruto, she bent down so that she could see his eyes through the two small holes in the mask and placed her hand on his head as she ruffled his spikey hair. Smiling warmly, she said, "I promise I won't die on my mission. And I never go back on my word, Naruto-kun. That is my _nindo_."

Naruto sat staring at her wide-eyed for what seemed like ages before he suddenly shot up from his chair and latched his arms tightly around her neck. Hotaru laughed and hugged him back.

"Remember," Naruto mumbled into her shoulder, "You promised, _onee-chan_."

_Okay, I absolutely can't ask for the mask back now. He's just too cute. He even called me _onee-chan_! Looks like I'll have to deal without it for once._

"Ah," Hotaru replied once she drew herself out of her thoughts. "I'll remember." She pulled herself away from him just enough to kiss the top of his head before she grabbed him around the middle to hoist him up and spin him around the kitchen. That was the first time Hotaru ever heard Naruto laugh.

* * *

Hotaru didn't even bother to assess her own injuries until she saw the mission target fall before her and one of her assigned teammates come up, check his pulse, and signal that the target was indeed dead. The mission complete, Hotaru allowed herself to sink to her knees, one hand clutching desperately at her abdomen. With a wince, she pulled her hand away and, somewhere in the back of her mind, registered that it was covered in blood. She tried to hone in on this thought, tried to focus on getting her arms to move toward her medical kit strapped to her belt and pull out bandages to stem the bloodflow. But no matter how hard she tired, her mind kept returning to the sensation of her rapidly draining chakra. It was flowing from her body as easily as her blood was flowing from her open wound. And both were refusing to stop.

And then the team's medic-nin was in front of Hotaru, poking and prodding and eliciting a pain-filled gasp from her each time. Then the medic-nin was gone and Hotaru was panting. She couldn't get her erratic breathing to even out. The blood and chakra-loss had both been stopped, but she'd already lost too much of both. One last thought surfaced amidst the frantic mess filling her mind before everything went black and she fell face-first in the dirt: _I promised Naruto..._

**Glossary:**

_tadaima- _I'm home_  
_

_gaki-chan- _Brat

_okarinasai- _Welcome home

_oyaji- _old man

_shinobi- _ninja

_nindo- _way of the ninja

_onee-chan- _older sister_  
_

**A/N: This chapter has just been sitting in my notebook, waiting to be typed and posted. I'm so lazy. This chapter is late and I didn't even bother to make it any longer. I probably could have, but I wanted to end it here to give the story some suspense. **

**Is Hotaru dead? Just what happened to her? How will Naruto fare when he finds out? Is this fic 'to be continued', or will the next chapter be the last? Who knows...**

**REVIEW!**

-mH

**(After proofreading: Wow. This chapter is mega-short. To make up for it, I'll update super soon.)**


	8. Not knowing all along

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Naruto_, 'cause if I did, this would be the original story, not a slightly AU fanfiction. 

**Let It All Out**

**Chapter Seven**

Sarutobi looked up briefly from his mounds of paperwork to chuckle and shake his head at the two other occupants of his office. His grandson, Konohamaru, was lying on his stomach, peering over the edge of a chair as he waited for his playmate to appear again. Naruto was lying on the floor under the chair, scrunched up so that Konohamaru couldn't see him before he suddenly scooted out with a cry of "Boo!" that sent Konohamaru into a giggling fit.

The two had been playing such games non-stop since they'd been introduced to one another four days ago. Sarutobi's daughter-in-law had informed him that Konohamaru had refused to sleep in his crib and had crawled over to Naruto's borrowed bed, tugging on Naruto's shirt until the other boy picked him up and tucked him into the bed with him. It seemed that Konohamaru had also learned a new word: _Nii-chan_.

Naruto had been wearing Hotaru's ANBU mask when Sarutobi brought him to meet his family, but during Konohamaru's first curious inspection of his new playmate, Konohamaru had pulled off the mask and bonked Naruto's nose. Naruto had been too shocked to grab the mask back to hide behind it, and Sarutobi was pleased to note that he'd only reached for the mask a few times over the past four days but hadn't slipped it back over his face. Said mask was currently lying on the arm of Konohamaru's chair and Naruto had yet to even reach for it that morning.

Sarutobi's thoughtful reflections were suddenly shattered by a curt knock on his office doors before they were opened and an ANBU squad captain entered briskly. He gave a stiff bow as he approached Sarutobi's desk and barely spared the two children in the room a glance before rattling off his mission brief stiffly.

"Where is your mission captain?" Sarutobi cut in, his voice low, when he looked over the mission report the ANBU had laid on his desk and remembered that his was the ANBU squad captain whose team he'd assigned Hotaru to as mission captain. He glanced wearily over to the two children and noticed with a sigh that Naruto was sitting rigidly, turned toward them but with his face carefully hidden behind the mask again.

"Anshi-san was taken to the hospital to recieve treatment," the ANBU replied quietly so that only Sarutobi could hear. Or so he thought. When Naruto stood abruptly, his hands fisted and frame tense, before shooting out of the office, Sarutobi flinched as he remembered Naruto's enhanced senses that he'd warned Hotaru about just a few weeks ago.

Quickly getting to his feet as well, Sarutobi called for his assistant and had the man take Konohamaru back to his mother while he swept out of the tower and turned towards the hospital with a brief order for the ANBU captain to follow him.

* * *

When Sarutobi reached the second floor of the hospital with the ANBU captain in tow, the first thing he noticed was the two ANBU guards stationed outside of a door in the middle of the hall--two more from Hotaru's team. His gaze then fell on a frustrated nurse who was whispereing harshly to a blonde child as she yanked on his arm while trying to pull him back down the hall.

"Leave now! You're not allowed here!" the nurse hissed, pinning Naruto's arms to his sides when he tried to push her away. Naruto's mask lay on the floor by his feet, most likely dislodged when the nurse first stopped him.

"He's fine right where he is, thank you," Sarutobi cut in curtly as he approached the group. The nurse turned around with a glare, her mouth open and ready to protest until she realized that it was the Hokage who had addressed her. She blushed embarassedly and bobbed a small bow before scurrying off down the hall.

With the nurse no longer restraining him, Naruto had charged at the door only to be blocked by the two ANBU guarding it. "You gotta let me in there! Let me in!" The ANBU captain stepped out from behind him and made to restrain Naruto again, but Sarutobi held his arm out to catch the ANBU guard in the chest, effectively stopping him. Sarutobi walked up behind Naruto and calmly set a hand on his shoulder. Naruto looked up to see who was bothering him now and Sarutobi nodded his head in the direction of a bench further down the hall, nudging Naruto in the back to get him moving. Naruto moved to the bench begrudgingly after scooping the mask up off the floor, shooting suspiscious glares back at the four every few seconds.

Sarutobi sighed and addressed the ANBU, his voice barely above a whisper, "Report. And keep your voices down, if you wouldn't mind."

The female ANBU wearing a tiger mask nodded and began, "The target reacted...unexpectedly, Hokage-sama. The poison barely fazed him and he came after me. I would most likely be dead, at the least critically injured, had Anshi-san not intervened."

"What is her condition?" Sarutobi asked, glancing briefly at Naruto, who had once again donned the mask.

"I was able to stabilize her condition and stem the flow of chakra that was leaking out before we moved her. When we finally arrived here, the main wound was already closed. The medics are taking care of the various other wounds and giving her a blood transfusion. They'll be done soon and all she'll need is rest to replinish the lost chakra," the same ANBU answered.

"And the rest of your team?" he inquired.

"We suffered only minor injuries, Hokage-sama," the captain supplied.

Sarutobi nodded and turned from them, making his way down the hallway to where Naruto was seated. Taking a seat beside him, Sarutobi began, "Don't worry, Naruto. She's going to be fine. She just used up a lot of chakra and is going to need her rest to restore it. It'll be a while before she's able to recieve visitors, though." Reaching into a pocket in his robes, he pulled out a few coins and held them out to Naruto. "Go get something to eat while you wait. By the time you get back, she should be in one of the rooms on the first floor. You can visit her there."

Naruto's head turned toward the three ANBU still standing by the door to the operating room and then back to Sarutobi. Standing up, he grabbed the coins and shuffled down the hall. Once the double doors swung shut behind Naruto, Sarutobi stood and turned back toward the ANBU. Nodding to the woman, he ordered, "Meet Naruto at the Ichiraku ramen stand and keep an eye on him."

"You want me to follow him?" she asked as she stepped away from the OR door.

"No, if you follow him he'll pick up the scent of the dried blood on your uniform and know he's being followed," Sarutobi answered, waving a hand to indicate her blood-stained chest-plate and pants. "The last thing he needs right now is stalking-induced paranoia."

"_Hai_, Hokage-sama," the ANBU replied. She bowed before disappearing with a _pop_ and a cloudy puff of smoke. Sarutobi nodded to the other two ANBU still stationed in front of the door and made his way back to his office to resume working on the stack of papers that had no doubt doubled since he'd left.

* * *

Naruto didn't head to Ichiraku as the old man Hokage had predicted. He walked past the Yamanaka flower shop in hopes of buying some flowers for Hotaru but sighed as he noticed the nearly deserted interior. His only hope for purchasing flowers would have been if the shopkeeper had been too busy with other customers to notice who he was; most of the Konoha shopkeepers refused to even let him in their store, much less buy the goods that were sold there. With a sigh, Naruto reasoned that he didn't even know what kind of flowers Hotaru liked in the first place, so there was no point in buying them.

Pocketing the coins the old man Hokage had given him, Naruto trudged down the street with no destination in mind, scouring the ground for a pebble to kick along as he went. Without realizing it, Naruto made his way away from the main streets and toward the fields bordering the surrounding Konoha forests. He had yet to discover a pebble and was about to turn back around to head to the ramen stand so that he could appease his grumbling stomach when he looked up and found himself at the edge of a field of flowers.

There were flowers of all colors, shapes, and sizes. Naruto had no idea what kind of flowers they were, only that there were so many different kinds that Hotaru was bound to love one of them. He rushed forward with a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he uprooted the brightest and most cheerful-looking flowers he could find.

A sharp voice voice behind him made Naruto freeze, the stem of a bright yellow flower clutched tightly in his hand, clumps of dirt stuck in the dangling roots, "Oi, what're you doing?" Naruto's head snapped up and wide baby blues met narrowed stormy greys.

**Glossary:**

_Nii-chan- _informal older brother

_Hai-_ yes

**A/N: Bah. School is starting to seriously cramp my style. I might not be able to update for a while. I have an AP exam and SAT next week, and EOC exams start two weeks after that. I may squeeze an update somewhere in there, since I already have a lot of the dialogue for the next chapter written out. Reviews would help to distract me from studying to work on fics, you know. -hint hint- The next chapter is when things really start to pick up too! There's gonna be a flashback to Hotaru's first day as a newly graduated genin. And I may stick in a warm fuzzy scene at the end because I like those.**

**-mH**


	9. That's exactly what we need

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Naruto_.

**Let It All Out**

**Chapter Eight**

Naruto stared at the girl in front of him nervously. She looked to be about his age. Her tiny hands were fisted and resting on her hips; her cobalt eyes were narrowed. A strand of platinum blond hair fell loose from her hair clip and hung over her left eye. She blew at it impatiently, trying to get it off of her face. She soon gave up and tucked the stray lock behind her ear with a huff. As soon as that was done, she rounded her attention back onto Naruto and demanded, "I asked you a question, so answer it!"

Naruto slowly raised his arms to indicate the flowers bunched in his fist before replying meekly, "I was just picking flowers..."

The girl's eyes widened when she saw the flowers and she screeched, "Picking!? You're tearing them up! They'll die in no time that way!" She rushed over and gingerly took the flowers from his hand. Naruto tried to protest, but she was ignoring him in favor of fussing over the dangling roots still attached to the stems of the flowers.

"You're not supposed to pull up the roots! Don't you know anything?!" she snapped at him, having pulled out a pair of scissors from a small pouch she had with her. She set to grooming the flower stems as best she could.

"Sorry...I didn't know..." Naruto replied sheepishly, rising to his feet awkwardly as he prepared to bolt. The girl looked up at him and sighed. Setting the flowers and scissors down carefully, she grabbed his elbow and yanked him back down beside her.

"You have to cut the stems at a slant like this," she instructed as she cut the stem of a yellow tulip. Then she held the scissors up to him. "Here, you try." Naruto stared at her disbelievingly for a moment before hesitantly taking the scissors from her. Looking around, he spotted a light blue flower that he thought Hotaru would like and leaned forward to cut the stem.

"No, no! You have to cut it at a slant! A slant!" the girl reprimanded, taking his hand in hers and tilting it so the scissor edges were angled appropriately against the stem. Her hand still covering his, she snapped the blades together and plucked up the falling flower. "See?" she questioned with a small smile as she added the flower to the small pile. Naruto nodded slowly in reply.

"So why are you picking flowers?" she asked, directing him with her hands to pick another flower.

Naruto paused just before cutting the stem. His bangs fell in front of his eyes and his cautious disposition transformed into a depressed one as he mumbled, "_Onee-chan_'s in the hospital..."

The girl blinked at him and nodded in understanding. "'Get well soon' flowers, then? We'll need more bright colors for that. Cheerful flowers, you know?" she told him with a wide smile, observing the pile of yellows and bright blues. "Now get to work! We're picking the most colorful flowers we can find!" she proclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.

Naruto just stared at the beaming blonde in front of him, completely dumbfounded. The girl's smile suddenly turned to a frown as she exclaimed, "Oi! Why are you just gaping like a fish outta water? Say something--like "Okay!" or "I bet I can pick more than you! Nyaa!'"

Naruto blinked owlishly before his face split in a happy grin. "Aye, aye, cap'n!" he responded with a salute. The girl nodded in approval and the two set about picking various flowers to add to the pile. Once she deemed the pile worthy, they picked out the liveliest flowers and she tied them together with a yellow ribbon from her pouch.

"Here," she said as she handed him the colorful bouquet. "You're all set, _gaki-chan_."

Naruto gave a small laugh at that and the girl looked at him questioningly. "_Onee-chan_ calls me that too," he explained.

"It's 'cause you're a _gaki_, _gaki-chan_," she replied teasingly, sticking her tongue out at him.

Naruto chuckled softly and told her, "Yeah, well you sound like an old lady!"

"Who you callin' old?" the girl demanded hotly, resting her hands on her hips and jutting them to one side moodily as her eyes narrowed.

"You, _obaa-san_!" Naruto replied in a sing-song tone, grinning wickedly as he dodged a half-hearted punch to his chest.

"Sankyuu!" he called out cheerfully, dashing back toward the village, colorful bouquet in hand. The girl stuck her tongue out at him again and went back to collecting the flowers that her mother had orignally sent her out to get.

* * *

_Hotaru stood outside the classroom door, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth nervously. Her gaze fell to the polished Konoha plate and the clean-cut black band tied around her left leg, and she nodded her head determinedly. Mustering up a small smile, she reached out and slid the door open._

_"Hello," she called out as amiably as she could manage to the two occupants of the room. The boy sitting closest to the door glanced up at her and gave a stiff nod in greeting before going back to staring blankly ahead. The other boy in the room was asleep in the far corner, and the noise of her entrance elicited a displeased grunt and the slight shifting in the positions of his arms as they cradled his head. Hotaru's smile quickly fell as she sank into the nearest seat to wait for their designated _sensei_. So this was her new _genin_ team. '_They're just going to be like all the rest_,' Hotaru thought, letting her head drop to the desktop dejectedly. '_They won't see a teammate; they'll just see a_ bakemono.'_

* * *

An overpoweringly sweet aroma filled Hotaru's senses and she jerked awake to find a palette of colors that blocked out anything else they may have been in sight. Then the colors were gone and replaced by bright blue eyes and a blinding smile.

"You're awake!" Naruto exclaimed happily, shoving a bouquet of wildflowers into her arms. "For you," he announced proudly.

Hotaru stared at him blankly for a minute, trying to collect her scattered thoughts, before accepting the flowers and holding them in one hand while looping her free arm around Naruto's shoulders in a hug as she squealed, "You're just too cute!" Pulling away, she grinned at his indignant pout at being called cute and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Sorry about this," she continued with a sad smile, "I did my best to keep from getting hurt. The mission was just a little more difficult than I thought it would be. I'm really sorry I broke our promise."

Naruto shook his head and replied, "You didn't break it though. You came back and you're fine now. And I think I made some friends."

"Really?" Hotaru asked curiously, pulling herself up and patting a space on the bed next to her for Naruto to flop down on. "Pop a squat and fill me in." Naruto crawled up on the bed and leaned back against a pillow.

"Well, 'Maru and me were playing peek-a-boo when you're team got back--" Naruto began.

"'Maru?" Hotaru asked.

"_Oji-san_'s grandkid," he elaborated.

"You mean Konohamaru?"

"Yeah, but his name's too long, so 'Maru."

Hotaru flicked the side of his head. "Hmm, how very lazy of you." Naruto just stuck out his tongue. "You said friends, though. As in plural. So keep going."

"Well, there was this girl--"

"A girl?" Hotaru interrupted excitedly. "What's her name?"

"I don't know. And stop interrupting my story!" Naruto ordered.

Hotaru looked at him incredulously. "What do you mean you don't know? Usually the first step to making a friend is finding out a name."

"I didn't ask her."

"So what were you planning on calling her?"

"The Girl."

"The girl? _The_ girl?"

"Not like that!" Naruto sputtered.

Hotaru broke out in a giggling fit. "Naru's got a girlfriend! Naru's got a girlfriend!" she sang in between laughs.

"I do not!" Naruto wailed back. "She just helped me pick these flowers!"

"Picking flowers together? I think that qualifies as a date!" Hotaru continued, grabbing her sides as they began to cramp.

"Does not!" Naruto screamed, his voice pitching higher and sending Hotaru into uncontrollable guffaws.

* * *

Hyuuga Hikari had been crouching on a rooftop that allowed a full view of the Ichiraku ramen stand for nearly twenty minutes now, and still there was no sign of the Uzumaki boy the Hokage had sent her to watch over. The Hokage had said Ichiraku, hadn't he? Hikari was sure that he had. But then, where was the boy? Well, certainly not at Ichiraku.

After another five minutes, Hikari was beginning to worry. She concentrated her chakra toward her eyes and whispered, "_Byakugan," _as she activated her bloodline limit. She quickly scanned the surrounding area but found no trace of the boy. Jumping to a nearby rooftop, her eyes began darting all around the streets. Where could he have gone? He had to be around here somewhere, right?

Right?

..._Hokage-sama's going to kill me._

**A/N: OMG I finally updated! Sorry it took so long. Really, really sorry. I'm such a horrible procrastinator. Anyway, I hope you'll forgive me. Pretty please?**

**Dun dun dun. Who could this mysterious blonde-haired flower girl possibly be? And a Hyuuga character has been introduced. Will she be appearing ever again? Who knows? And a glimpse into Hotaru's past! Flashbacks to her _genin_ days. But why would her teammates think of her as a monster?**

**Look forward to the next chapter to find out!**

**(And if you're in a generous mood, why not review?)**

**-mH**


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